1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for converting a silica-bearing starting material to single crystal silicon and, more particularly, it pertains to the production of liquid silicon in an arc heater under reduction conditions followed by single crystal growth.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The potential for photovoltaic energy conversion as a source for electric power generation is limited by the costs associated with the several processing steps of converting sand to single crystal silicon and hence to diffused, contacted and coated solar cells and arrays. The present process for manufacturing solar panels is a series of discrete steps, each of which is laborious and frequently wasteful of energy and materials. A national photovoltaic program is presently under way to reduce the cost of silicon solar cells and includes the development of processes to reduce raw material costs, develop more economic silicon processing procedures, and automating the processing.